A Rose by Any Other Name
by WanderingJane
Summary: AU/Rose is no coward.


It starts with a kiss.

Rose has seen a lot of men in her life, but she's pretty sure none of them come close to being as good-looking as Damon. In spite of all the chaos and fear around her, she can't help but be drawn to him. She's a fool. Elijah is after her, Trevor is trembling at her side, the doppelganger is looking at her with something like disgust in her eyes, and yet all she can is stare at Damon's lips and wonder how soft they are.

When they kiss, it isn't really what Rose expects. She isn't filled with love or passion. It's empty and unsatisfying. Still, Damon seems to like her, even if he is in love with Katherine's look-a-like. It's all the same to Rose, though. She's not really looking for love anymore. She's pretty sure she's going to die, but the thought doesn't terrify her as it used to. She's tired of running, tired of being trapped in Elijah's shadow. Besides, Trevor's gone and life just isn't the same without him.

She runs away. Again. Even after she had decided she would no longer run, she finds herself half-way to New York. She stops somewhere in Philadelphia. She stands in the middle of a highway for about five minutes, berating herself and thinking of poor Trevor, Elijah, and the way Damon looked at Elena when he thought she wasn't looking. She closes her eyes and breathes in the polluted air, so very different from the air she knew as a human. She's made her decision, just as she made her decision to help Katherine all those centuries ago.

She runs again, but this time it's towards something. She wants to be human. She could never forget what it was like to run through a field of flowers or sit in the sun with Trevor, laughing as they talked about nothing at all. This, the act of helping someone out of pure selflessness, out of the desire to make Damon smile, is the closest she'll ever get to being human again.

She arrives in time to help the others in their latest far-fetched plan to stop Elijah. It's complicated and dangerous, but she suspects most of their plans usually are. Damon's look of surprise when she walks through the door is both hurtful and satisfying. She likes catching him off guard, but it hurts to know he had accepting her flight so easily. Still, he gives her an appreciative smile when she firmly states she'll do whatever they ask of her. It warms her heart but she says nothing. She can feel Elena's confused stare and that's enough to remind her why she came back.

It isn't until days later on a full moon, when Jules crashes through the windows, that Rose begins to think that maybe she made a mistake. She'd been prepared for Elijah ripping out her heart, but facing off against a werewolf was not something she wanted to endure. Panic blooms in her chest and she almost runs again, to Elijah, to Katherine, to anyone that isn't a slave to the moon. And then she sees who Jules is moving towards and all thoughts fly from Rose's mind. She leaps across the room and pushes the frail human girl away.

"Go!" is the only word she manages to get out before she feels razor-sharp teeth tearing into her right shoulder. She pushes the werewolf away and bares her fangs weakly, nausea, dizziness, and pain making it difficult for her to stay upright.

Damon and Stefan rush in and fight the wolf until she jumps through the broken windows and runs into the night. The brothers rush to her side as Elena watches horrified from the doorway. She knows it's bad. She doesn't need to see the marred flesh to know it. The burning pain is enough.

Three days later, she's lying in bed with Damon. He's sent Elena away and Rose can't help but feel guilty that she almost killed the poor girl. She wants to apologize, to explain to Damon that she didn't mean to run away, that she didn't want to hurt Elena, but Damon won't let her. She just holds her tightly and says nothing.

She starts seeing things, remembering her life as a human. The pain isn't as bad anymore, either because she's grown used to it or because she's delirious with fever. She sees Trevor, trees, the fields, her home. She sees life.

Blearily, she opens her eyes and finds Damon looking down at her with something that looks suspiciously like pain in his eyes. She glances at the stake sitting innocently on the bedside table, then looks quickly back at Damon. She almost feels peaceful, knowing that it's almost over. She takes comfort in the fact that Damon's stayed with her until the very end. He's loyal and a good person. She sees his humanity shining through the corners and it makes her smile. It really is amazing what one little human girl can do.

"Elena," she whispers.

"She's fine," he says, almost harshly. Rose says nothing. There's nothing to say really.

She closes her eyes, wanting her last memory to be that beautiful, sunny field. She doesn't see the stake or the regret in Damon's eyes. She doesn't feel the pain of wood piercing her heart. She dies peacefully and with a small smile on her face.

It takes almost a year but Damon finally understands what Rose's final word meant. He feels a pang of regret when he remembers how she died saving Elena and stops for a moment to mourn silently. He finally turns to looks at the girl standing on the porch, looking at him with wonder in her eyes.

"She knew. She knew all along this would happen," he says to himself, amusement and fondness coloring his voice.

"What are you talking about?"

He smiles and shakes his head and quickly makes his way towards Elena.

It ends with a kiss.


End file.
